A National Watchdog Says Three of Four Hate Groups in Portland Are Black. How Is That Possible?

Observers of hate speech in Portland argue that the watchdog organization is missing the obvious.LOVE GROUP: Natazar Ha Ahsh (right) of the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge and a soldier, David, on the second floor of the Multnomah County Central Library. (Emily Joan Greene)

The McCoy Village community room on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is an earth-toned space that hosts community meetings and the affordable housing complex's holiday parties.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the nation's leading watchdog of hate groups, however, claims this room is also a site of hate activity.

The room doesn't host neo-Nazis or the Klan. It's a place where black separatists come to gather, in a group called the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ.

In fact, the SPLC says three out of the four hate groups operating in Portland are black. The claim was first made last year in a "hate map" published by the center every February that lists the 917 most prominent hate groups in America.

"That's ludicrous," says Jo Ann Hardesty, head of Portland's NAACP and a candidate for the City Council. "I challenge this premise, that 75 percent of the hate groups operating in Portland are black. Just do the math."

"We stand behind the listing," says Heidi Beirich, director of the center's Intelligence Project. "We call out hate where we see it, and we aren't going to give a pass to anti-Semitism or anti-white thinking in these groups."

As the SPLC prepares to publish a new hate map next month, observers of hate speech in Portland argue that the watchdog organization is missing the obvious: Black and white hate groups don't operate on a level playing field.

"Organizations of color do not have the power to enact their vision on this society," says Walidah Imarisha, an author and Oregon black history scholar. "White supremacist organizations do."

But the core of his message is the idea that the United States should return to racially separate societies.

"The only way to make change is to actually separate," Ha Ahsh says. "What do you think black people should do in America?"

A Black Riders Liberation Party marcher (Courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center)

The Black Riders Liberation Party, meanwhile, evolved from the New Black Panther Party, the SPLC says. The party's YouTube videos include weaponry, calls to arms and anti-police rhetoric.

The Portland chapter of the Israelite Church hosts an online radio show featuring a "Bishop Yawasapga," whose podcasts target white people, Jews, the gay community and women. The group did not respond to emails or phone calls.

Staff at McCoy Village was surprised to hear a listed hate group was using its community room.

"They're not affiliated with us at all," says Ashley Fuller, a Cascade Property Management staffer.

(Courtesy of the Southern Poverty Law Center)

The SPLC's list has real influence, and a track record of identifying and taking action against hate groups. Black separatists in Portland, however, constitute little or no threat, local experts say. (Portland is 6 percent black, and police numbers show four of 34 suspects in bias crimes since 2015 were black.)

"They don't actually do anything about [their beliefs]," says Randy Blazak, director of the Hate Crimes Research Network. "They basically meet in a little room off of MLK and talk about the white devil and these conspiracy theories and then they go home."

Imarisha looks at the hate map and sees a glaring absence.

"It's not just Portland," she says. "Even if you look at the rest of Oregon, it is not reflective of the number, the amount of white supremacist organizing that is happening. Why is that?"